The Little Prince and The Alchemist: Pursuing Dreams

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Antoine De Saint-Exupery and Paulo Caolho come from two different worlds. One was raised in France while the other was raised in Brazil. One wrote in the 1940s while the other is still writing. But as different as they are, they share similar universal ideas regarding humanity. They have written novels portraying the same theme: pursuing ones dreams. To depict this theme, the protagonists from The Little Prince, by Saint-Exupery, and The Alchemist, by Caolho, learn from their experiences while being guided by similar symbols. The stars are one such symbol that is shared between the two stories. The narrator, from The Little Prince, and Santiago, from The Alchemist, both use the stars to navigate them on their journey. The stars illustrate the immensity of the universe and the different ways it can be looked at. This reflects people in that one's personality has depth and can view situations, people, places, and things in different perspectives. “If someone loves a flower of which just one example exists among all the millions and millions of stars, that's enough to make him happy when he looks at the stars. He tells himself, “My flower's up there somewhere...” But if the sheep eats the flower, then for him it's as if, suddenly, all the stars went out” (21). This quote, from The Little Prince, shows how one can look at the stars, and everything else, in different perspectives. An adult, with their limited dreams, looks at the sky, life, differently than a child, with an unlimited outlook. Children look at the world with the idea that they can be anything they want to be; Their top priority is to follow their heart. Adults look at the world with stressful priorities that may not involve their happiness. This notion is also covered in The Alchemist, where Santiago learns that “The world speaks many languages” (86). “There is life in the desert, [there are]

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